I am Im Hyunsoo, a 24-year-old South Korean man.
Having been discharged from the military a year prior, I had only recently returned to university as a student.
Consequently, I had no close friends and no one with whom I could comfortably converse.
One might assume I felt lonely being alone, and that would be partially true.
“…But then again, who exactly am I talking to?”
As is evident, I was merely talking to myself, despite there being no one else around.
Well, let us overlook such trivialities.
In any case, the reason I claimed my loneliness was only partially true was quite simple.
“Oh, it’s time to feed my children.”
This was because I had many pets.
[Summoner, you’ve come again today!]
“Kids~ Your big brother is here~”
…In the game, that is. I couldn’t keep pets in reality.
While it was true that I had often pestered my parents for puppies when I was young…
There was the time I lost one during a walk, only for it to be struck by a car right before my eyes; another time, a typhoon swept a puppy away with our house in a flood, leaving it missing; and yet another, when a puppy passed away from enteritis while I was briefly away from home.
Though there were others besides those, the trauma from those three alone was so immense that I couldn’t bear to recall the reasons other pets had died, even if it meant my own death.
For these reasons, then, I was unable to raise pets in the real world.
The game I played, ‘Everyone’s Summoner,’ was one I had been dedicated to since my middle school days.
It was thanks to this game that I had managed to endure even my time in the military.
The gameplay itself was straightforward.
First, one purchased a Summoning Stone, placed it in an incubator, and after a period, a Summon would hatch.
Then, the task was simply to raise that Summon.
While it might seem unremarkable, the game’s core system, and arguably its most enjoyable aspect, was Fusion.
By placing two Summons on the altar, their combined powers could yield a new Summoning Stone.
Once a Summoning Stone was complete, the two Summons would drift into an exhausted sleep, a sight that was truly adorable.
‘…If I were to describe it only up to this point, it would merely seem like a relaxing game; however, it was not solely a game for healing.’
And for good reason, as all the Summons in this game were heteromorphic beings – specifically, beautiful girls.
This meant it could also evoke the sensation of a dating sim (TL Note: A ‘miyeonsi’ is a Japanese-style dating simulation game, often featuring anime-style female characters).
While beautiful girls are popular in games these days, this particular game was celebrating its tenth anniversary this year.
Back in the day, I would have thought such a concept would never succeed, yet it had remarkably persevered.
Of course, I was among the users who had helped sustain this game.
Although my direct monetary contributions only began once I became a university student and started working part-time, perhaps merely having a user base was enough to help keep it afloat?
“Whew, I’ve fed them, and now…? What? There’s no one on the altar?”
The game’s sole drawback, if there was one, was the exceedingly long fusion and hatching times.
Even so, I couldn’t leave the altar idle. I placed Kkongkkongi, an Ice-attribute Summon, and Ppireusi, an Electric-attribute Summon, upon it.
Oh, incidentally, Kkongkkongi and Ppireusi were names I had given them. Their official designations were Ice Girl and Lightning Sprite, respectively.
‘Forgive me, your big brother, for having such poor naming sense.’
As if seeking forgiveness, I stroked their heads twice.
Over its ten years of service, this game had seen the addition of numerous systems.
Among them was the petting system.
Notably, each Summon had distinct areas they enjoyed being petted and areas they disliked.
In Kkongkkongi’s case, she enjoyed a gentle stroke on the head but would grow angry if her face was touched.
Ppireusi, on the other hand, liked having her chin tickled, but touching her cloud would result in a shock.
Of course, there was also Seokyung (a Succubus, a combined Fire and Demon attribute Summon – though why a succubus possessed the Fire attribute was beyond me), who loved being touched anywhere, and Tsundere (an Ice Princess with a strong Ice attribute, who rarely appeared when two Ice-attribute Summons were fused; I named her ‘Tsundere’ because her affection levels didn’t drop, and her expressions suggested she liked being touched while pretending to dislike it), a Summon who disliked being touched at all.
‘…Now that I think about it, this game had a certain level of mature content right from its initial release, didn’t it?’
Perhaps due to its 15+ age rating, the game seemed to have always featured a degree of suggestive content, even in its early service days.
The prime example of such content was the Succubus Summon.
The Succubus had existed even before interactive systems were implemented. At that time, the Demon attribute didn’t even exist, so she was a single Fire attribute, and traces of that remained, making Fire her primary attribute.
‘…No matter how I think about it, wouldn’t it have been more fitting for the Succubus to be changed to an Archdemon attribute rather than a combined Fire and Demon attribute?’
Regardless, I had poured immense affection into this game since my middle school years, and with the persistent thought that it would someday reach its service end, I continued to play it without ever quitting.
****
“Huh… Where is this…?”
And I had entered the very game I was playing.
…As a woman, no less.
By the way, the Summoner’s appearance… she was a beautiful girl?
“No, this isn’t right!”
“Why have I become a woman?! The official sources never revealed the Summoner’s gender—”
‘…They did, actually, since the official sources depicted two Summoners…’
This game, a mobile title, even had an official webtoon.
In that webtoon, the male Summoner looked dashing even to my male eyes, and the female Summoner was an absolute stunner, a truly beautiful girl.
I had even chosen the female Summoner after seeing her… hadn’t I…?
‘I chose her…?’
Self-inflicted.
It means receiving the consequences of one’s own actions.
A fitting phrase for my current situation.
“Well, what’s done is done, isn’t it? Anyway, how did I even get into this game?”
Let me try to recall.
First, after petting Kkongkkongi and Ppireusi before placing them on the altar, just as I was about to turn off my phone, a truck running a red light hit me…
‘Right, let’s forget that!’
As I recalled what had happened, I saw my own terribly deceased body.
“Summoner Unnie (TL Note: A Korean term of address used by a female to an older female, meaning ‘older sister’)?”
“Huh? That voice is…”
“Unnie, you’re Summoner Unnie, right? Aren’t you?”
The girl calling me ‘Unnie’ was my first Summon, the fairy Saessak.
The fairy was a Grass-attribute Summon whose Summoning Stone could be purchased from the tutorial; fittingly for a tutorial Summon, she had the shortest hatching time and was also the game’s mascot.
Seeing Saessak call me ‘Unnie’ served to remind me once more that I had indeed entered this game.
Still, I would have preferred to be called ‘Oppa’ (TL Note: A Korean term of address used by a female to an older male, meaning ‘older brother’), but…
‘In my current form, being called Oppa would be difficult.’
Regrettably, I had no choice but to be content with ‘Unnie’.
Incidentally, who on earth had given her the name Saessak?
To give such a cute child the name Saessak! While it suited her well enough, what kind of name was ‘Sprout,’ really?
‘…It was me, wasn’t it?’
‘…I should definitely never open a naming agency.’
‘I’m sorry, Saessak. For giving you such a paltry name.’
Internally, I began to apologize to Saessak.
“Unnie…? Are you alright…?”
“Oh? Ah, yes… I was just lost in thought for a moment… Hahaha…”
After vaguely brushing off Saessak, who was looking up at me with an innocent face, I decided to go see the other children.
“This is the first time I’ve seen Summoner Unnie so clearly.”
“Really? Even though I always used to pet you all often?”
“Back then, we could barely see Summoner Unnie’s hand, that’s all.”
‘…What was that? That’s creepy.’
****
While taking my usual walk, I saw Summoner Unnie.
But today, something was different.
Usually, Unnie would only show her hand, but today, for some reason, she revealed her entire body.
Summoner Unnie was clearly human, yet why was she as beautiful as any of the Summons? Truly…
‘She looks so delicious…’
‘…No, this isn’t right!’
Even though all of us Summons were female and capable of breeding, Unnie was still human.
She would surely prefer human men, and if I were to pounce on Unnie, she would undoubtedly become frightened of us Summons, including myself, and leave us.
That simply couldn’t happen.
If that were to actually occur, Unnie would abandon us, calling us monsters. I simply had to endure.
I was a Summon, and Unnie was my master.
I must not forget that.
“Unnie…? Are you alright…?”
“Oh, yes… I was just lost in thought for a moment… Hahaha…”
Therefore, I would be content with merely gazing upon her like this.
“This is the first time I’ve seen Summoner Unnie so clearly.”
“Really? Even though I always used to pet you all often?”
“Back then, we could barely see Summoner Unnie’s hand, that’s all.”
I had wanted to add, ‘but I didn’t know that such a beautiful Unnie resided within,’ but Unnie’s state seemed odd.
It was as if… she was trembling, claiming to be scared?
“Unnie, are you alright?”
“Oh, oh… Yes… It’s a little scary to hear that I appeared that way…”
‘…Huh?’
“What? Unnie didn’t know either?”
“Uh, yeah…”
Unnie… I always thought of you as such a cool person, but now that thought has vanished.
Unnie was cool, yet in reality, she possessed many cute sides.
Ah, I want to monopolize Summoner Unnie.
But I couldn’t do that. She wasn’t my Summoner alone.
‘…Wait, if that’s the case, couldn’t we just have Unnie together with the other girls?’
‘No, if we did that, Unnie would only come to hate us.’
Instead, it would be better to make Unnie see only us.
‘Unnie, just you wait a little longer.’
Because we’ll make it so that even if we pounce on Unnie, she won’t resist.
